Spicy, crispy, juicy fried chicken. This recipe is for 2 chicken thighs which I made into a burger with slaw, but you can easily adjust the recipe for strips of chicken, legs or wings. Gochugaru is a Korean chilli powder that has a smokey and sweet aroma, there isn't really an alternative to this. I purchased a large packet online, and I plan to make some kimchi with the rest at some point. Also, I recommend a thermometer when deep frying, it makes life a lot easier.
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
2x skin on chicken thighs
1tbsp Gochugaru chilli flakes
1x grated garlic clove
1tsp grated ginger
2cups butter milk, or make your own by combining 2 cups of milk with the juice of half a lemon.
1cup cornstarch or potato starch
1cup plain flour
pinch of salt and pepper
3cups oil for deep frying (enough to cover the chicken)
Chilli sauce ingredients:
3tbsp Gochugaru
1tbsp sugar
3x grated garlic clove
1tsp grated ginger
1tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp ketchup
1tbsp chilli oil
1tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup water
Method:
Step 1
First marinate the chicken. Add the buttermilk, grated garlic and ginger, salt, pepper and gochugaru to a bowl and stir to combine. Add the chicken thighs and make sure they're fully submerged in the marinate. Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge for an hour or even over night.
Step 2
To make the sauce, simply combine all of the sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, let it reduce on a low flame until its thick and glossy. Please taste, as it may be need more sweetness to combat the spice, or it may need more spice! Take the pan off the heat once its ready, you can reheat it when you're ready to dunk your chicky.
Step 3
When you're ready to fry, heat your oil to 350 degrees fahrenheit in a deep pan. I would recommend a cast iron pan. Ideally you need to use a thermometer to check the temperature before frying and during, the oil temperature will drop once you add the chicken.
Step 4
Combine the cornstarch and plain flour in a bowl. Remove your chicken from the marinate, and coat each piece of chicken in the flour mix. Dust off any excess flour. It helps to keep one hand dry (for the flour) and one hand wet (for the chicken) otherwise you end up breading your fingers. Put the coated chicken on a separate plate, ready for frying.
Step 5
Set aside a tray with a wire rack on top, so once you've finished your first fry you and let the chicken drain and keep the crust crispy.
Step 6
The chicken will be fried twice for extra crunch. So the first fry will be at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully lay the chicken in the oil away from you, so it doesn't splash you. let the chicken turn a light golden brown, this may take around 2-3 mins. The chicken won't be cooked all of the way through, don't panic, it will continue cooking on the second fry. remove the chicken and place on the wire rack.
Step 7
Now you're ready for the second fry. Heat the oil up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully add in the chicken again, and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes until its a deep golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and let it drain again. You can always check that your chicken is cooked through with your thermometer, it should be 75 degrees celsius.
Step 8
Once the chicken has drained of excess oil, lay the chicken in the warm sauce and coat the thighs liberally. You can also brush on the sauce with a pastry brush.
Step 9
Whack it in a bun or just chow down with some slaw and chips. 👌
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